Fishtales Magazine: A Sailfish Point Publication - Magazine - Page 21
HT: After nearly four decades in the industry, what moment stands out as the proudest of your career?
RG: When you work for Jean-Georges, you don’t make a move without Papa saying so. I want to be clear about that.
But during my tenure at JoJo—my longest run at any restaurant, from 2003 to 2016—we received a Michelin star in
two separate years. Not consecutively. We earned it in 2012, lost it in 2013, and regained it in 2014.
To get a dish on a Jean-Georges menu, you present it to him.
He tastes it, he tinkers with it. He’ll say, “I love it, but do this
instead of that.” And you have to be okay with that—otherwise, you’re in the wrong place.
I’m proud of all my time at JoJo, but earning those Michelin
stars, even with a year in between, was probably the proudest professional moment of my career.
HT: Outside the kitchen, what are some passions or
interests people might not know about you?
RG: I’m a huge Rangers fan. Born in Brooklyn, raised on
Staten Island, born into a family of Rangers fans—my father,
my brothers, my uncles, my cousins. I played hockey as a
kid. Roller hockey through high school, then ice hockey. At
the CIA we had a club hockey team. We weren’t winning any
championships—we’d play teams called Joe’s Garage—but
it was a lot of fun. And the lessons you learn in organized
sports are the same ones that apply here in our workplace:
how you handle pressure, how you present yourself, how
you handle adversity, how you lead, how you speak to
people. Beyond hockey, my wife, Cathi, and I love being
outdoors together; kayaking and biking are our things. We’ll
celebrate thirty-eight years of marriage this July. We actually
met at culinary school, and she has supported me for my
entire career. She’s an amazing woman. We’ve had our ups
Pictured above: Young Ron Gallo in New York circa: 1983
and downs like any married couple, but I’ll say this—I was a pirate and a misfit when we first met. Any success I have
had is because of her.
HT: After so many years in fast-paced New York kitchens, what appealed to you most about Sailfish Point?
RG: Teaching and training have been the best parts of my job throughout my entire career. When Marco offered
me this position and laid out a five-year plan, what sold me was the opportunity to teach cooks—not only what
Jean-Georges taught me about food, but everything else we’ve talked about: the attitude, the pride, the presentation,
and the respect.
If I had stayed with the Jean-Georges company, I was already an executive chef. There weren’t many steps left between me and Jean-Georges himself—maybe three. Greg Brainin, the culinary director, is brilliant and has the finest
palate of any chef I’ve worked with. I consider him both a mentor and a friend. But if I had wanted to teach within
that structure, I would have been limited to whichever single restaurant I was running.
Sailfish Point offers something much bigger. Three restaurants now, eventually five. A team that spans every shape,
size, age, and background. What I know for certain is that the work I want to do now is teaching—imparting wisdom, sharing skills, and helping cooks, young and old, grow in their craft. The difference between working for
Jean-Georges and being here is that I believe I can make a greater impact on a larger group of people.
That’s why I signed on the dotted line—with excitement for what we can build together and the opportunity to help
shape the next generation of cooks.
